China’s Skyco International Leasing has placed an order for six Airbus H175 helicopters to be used for offshore industry support flights. The contract is a follow-up to the six-unit H175 order the company placed in early 2024 for emergency management and public service applications in Guangdong province.
The latest batch of H175s joining the Skyco portfolio will be leased and operated by helicopter group China Southern Airlines General Aviation (CSAGA) for energy industry contracts. CSAGA has been using U.S.-made Sikorsky S-92A rotorcraft for offshore operations, which is a sector increasingly being targeted by Europe-based Airbus with its super-medium twin H175.
Guangzhou-based Skyco is a public-private joint venture between the Guangdong Airport Authority and various local and international investors. CSAGA, the helicopter division of China Southern Airlines, is also assessing EHang’s EH216-S autonomous eVTOL for a variety of applications.
To date, Airbus has delivered 71 H175s, and the aircraft already in service have logged 250,000 flight hours since the model entered service in 2014.